CHAPTER 361: AFTER THE GAME & GETTING A NEW FRIEND!

"Good game." Kollar smiled, offering a handshake. "I really admire your devious mind, baiting me with that pawn break. Now, I know how the other players felt when they faced you." He couldn’t help but praise.

Even though the man had been telling himself to be careful when Sheva threw the bait, it was still too good not to be grabbed, so in the end, Kollar still jumped into the trap straight away, resulting in this painful defeat. Yeah, it was a painful defeat, as the game lasted for about five hours with 116 moves on the board. This was probably the longest game in this round, as they couldn’t see any players at the venue anymore.

"Ahaha... It is just luck..." Sheva rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, trying to look modest. "This is not the first time someone has been waiting for me to do that, so I know when and where to throw the bait. I waited until you moved your king slightly away from my side before committing to a pawn break, knowing that your king wouldn’t be fast enough to support that side." He explained.

"So, I have been dancing on your palm from the beginning, huh?" Kollar sighed helplessly, knowing that he was being outsmarted in this game. "Not bad! You deserve to win this game!" He congratulated the boy.

"Thanks!" Sheva also nodded.

However, there was no sadness on Dmitrij Kollar’s expression, and no exaggerated joy could be seen on Sheva’s face as well. They both knew that the German team had already won the matchup, so this game was a bit pointless. They could just end the game in a draw, and it wouldn’t affect anything. However, no, they wanted to satisfy their ego here, and satisfaction did they get after the dust was settled.

They chatted for a bit more, discussing the game that they had just played here. To Sheva’s surprise, Dmitrij Kollar was far from the stereotype of a German man who was tough and aloof. No, Kollar was humorous and full of expression, making it easy for them to hit off like that.

Being engrossed by the conversation, they didn’t even feel tired, something that people found strange for two players who had been fighting against each other for about five hours. It wasn’t until the arbiter reminded them awkwardly to leave that they realized they had overstayed here, so both Sheva and Kollar rose from the chair instantly, apologizing before leaving the venue.

"Let’s exchange contact first and continue later, okay? Oh, which messenger apps do you use? It would be good if it were WhatsApp." Kollar asked.

"Yeah, it is WhatsApp." Sheva nodded in confirmation.

"Nice!" The man gave a thumbs-up.

After a quick contact exchange, Kollar finally walked away with a satisfied smile on his face. Sheva could only shake his head amusedly, finding the man to be quite strange.

"If I am not his opponent and don’t know the final result of the game, I would’ve thought that he has just won his game here..." The boy snorted. Then, a familiar figure entered his eyesight, and the boy realized that he had made his friend wait for a long time. "Ah, sorry, I forgot about you." Sheva grinned sheepishly.

"Forgetting about me, huh?" That person, Bagas, just narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Can you be a little less blunt? If it were Sarah, Anna, or Claudia who heard that, they would’ve had your head on the ground right now." He sighed.

"Oh, I know that. I am just being blunt because it is you." The grin got wider and cheekier, resulting in a light punch on the boy’s shoulder. "Speaking of the girls, where are they by the way?"

"Oh, they are going for a pizza party back at the hotel, celebrating their good result today," Bagas answered nonchalantly. Then, a teasing grin formed as he added, "Yeah, unlike you lot, the ladies showed a good performance today, winning against the USA 2.5 – 1.5. Are you not jealous of them?" A hint of gloating could be heard in his tone, eliciting a groan from Sheva.

While he was happy for the girl, it would be a lie if Sheva didn’t feel any jealousy. The women’s team was probably what he envisioned as a team; all of them being competent and promoting meritocracy, giving the spot to the most capable player among them all. This forced them to be better every day, as one defeat would be enough to get them back to the bench. Compared to that, the men’s team, with its seniority, was so infuriating, and Sheva even admired himself for holding back for so long before snapping at Novendra last night.

"So, the ladies are celebrating, huh? What about the gentlemen?" Sheva asked, trying to be casual.

"Where else?" Bagas snorted, not having any hesitation about holding back his thoughts. "Of course, they are hiding in their cave. No one would be bothering you tonight, especially that man. Even though he is an idiot, he still has shame, so confronting you after this is definitely not on his agenda." The way he spoke about Novendra seemed to make that man taboo in this conversation, which was exactly the case, since the mere mention of his name was enough to worsen their mood.

"Good." Sheva nodded silently.

They strolled around the venue for a while, buying all the street foods available to celebrate Sheva’s win. At this point, Bagas also didn’t care too much about the men’s team. As long as Sheva was thriving, he would be happy about it.

The night was pretty cold today, with the addition of the little rain pouring from the sky. They sped up a little bit to go back to the hotel as quickly as possible, not wanting to get wet too much from the rain. Fortunately, Sheva only shared the room with Bagas, so he didn’t have to meet anyone from the team after this. Even though he was happy after winning the game, his disappointment from losing the matchup was still there, and he didn’t want to talk about this with them all.

After arriving at their room and taking a quick shower, Sheva finally felt the exhaustion hit him quite hard. The game lasted for 5 hours, and after his passing out episode two days ago, this took a toll on his body, and right now, all he wants to do is sleep well for the next 8 to 9 hours. However, before he could do that, Bagas’s words suddenly caught his attention.

"By the way, Shev, do you know that you are going viral right now?"